This page contains information about the authorisation procedure for credit servicers and credit purchasers under the Credit Servicers and Credit Purchasers Act (KKG; Kreditdienstleister- und Kreditkäufergesetz).
On 17 March 2025 the law enacting the Credit Servicers and Credit Purchasers Act (KKG; Kreditdienstleister- und Kreditkäufergesetz) and amending other Federal Acts was published in Federal Law Gazette I no. 6/2025, which entered into force on 18 March 2025.
This law transposes Directive (EU) 2021/2167, which is known as the “Non-Performing-Loans Directive”. In substantive terms, a secure legal framework is intended to be created for credit purchasers and sellers and involving credit servicers, to promote the development of a secondary markets for non-performing loans and to thereby enable credit institutions to clear them from their balance sheets. In this regard, the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) is the competent authority.
Authorisation
It should be noted in relation to the conditions for authorisation including the applicant and the necessary documents that:
- An authorisation granted by the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA) is required for providing credit servicing activities under Article 4 of the Credit Servicers and Credit Purchasers Act (KKG; Kreditdienstleister- und Kreditkäufergesetz), published in Federal Law Gazette I 6/2025.
- Under Article 3 KKG a credit servicer is a legal person that, in the course of its business, manages and enforces the rights and obligations related to a creditor’s rights under a non-performing credit agreement, or to the non-performing credit agreement itself, on behalf of the credit purchaser, and carries out at least one or more credit servicing activities.
Article 5 KKG states the conditions that must be fulfilled to be granted an authorisation by the FMA
- The applicant is a legal person as defined in Article 54 TFEU and has its registered office in Austria, or where it does not have a registered office, its head office in Austria makes the application;
- the members of the applicant’s management or administrative organ are of sufficiently good repute, in that members of the management or administrative organ prove that
a) they have a clean police record or other national equivalent in relation to relevant criminal offences, in particular those relating to property, financial services and activities, money laundering, usury, fraud, tax crimes, and violation of professional secrecy or to physical integrity, as well as in relation to other offences under laws in relation to companies, bankruptcy, insolvency or consumer protection;
b) the cumulative effects of minor incidents do not impinge on their good repute;
c) they have always been transparent, open and cooperative in their past business dealings with supervisory and regulatory authorities;
d) they are not subject to any ongoing insolvency proceedings nor have they previously been declared bankrupt unless reinstated in accordance with national law; - the applicant’s management or administrative organ collectively possesses appropriate knowledge and appropriate experience to manage the undertaking in a competent and responsible manner;
- the persons who hold qualifying holdings in the applicant pursuant to Article 4(1), point (36), of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 are of sufficiently good repute, as demonstrated by fulfilling the requirements set out in no. 2 lits. a and d;
- the applicant has in place robust governance arrangements and adequate internal control mechanisms, including risk management and accounting procedures, which ensure respect for borrower rights and compliance with the laws governing a creditor’s rights under a non-performing credit agreement, or the non-performing credit agreement itself, and with Regulation (EU) 2016/679;
- the applicant has appropriate principles in place to ensure compliance with rules for the protection, and the fair and diligent treatment, of borrowers, including and in this regard takes into account their financial situation and, where available, the need for such borrowers to be referred to debt counselling or social services;
- the applicant has in place adequate and specific internal procedures that ensure the recording and handling of complaints from borrowers;
- the applicant has to observe the applicable national reporting and disclosure regulations.
The applicant must enclose the following information and documentation pursuant to Article 7 para. 2 KKG with the application for granting an authorisation as a credit servicer:
- evidence of the applicant’s legal status and a copy of its act of incorporation and of the articles of incorporation;
- the address of the head office, of the registered office stated in its articles of incorporation or the applicant’s registered office;
- the identity of the members of the applicant’s management or administrative organ and the persons who hold qualifying holdings within the meaning of Article 4(1) point 36 of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013;
- evidence that the applicant fulfils the conditions laid down in Article 5 para. 1 nos. 2 and 3;
- evidence that the persons who hold qualifying holdings pursuant to Article 4(1) point (36) of Regulation (EU) No 575/2013 fulfil the conditions laid down in Article 5 para. 1 no. 4;
- evidence of the governance arrangements and internal control mechanisms referred to in Article 5 para. 1 no. 5;
- evidence about the principles listed in Article 5 para. 1 no. 6 KKG, for example internal guidelines on the fair and transparent dealing with borrowers;
- evidence about the internal procedures referred to in Article 5 para. 1 no. 7 KKG, for example internal complaints guidelines and the complaints handling process.
- any outsourcing agreement as referred to in Article 12 para. 1 KKG.
Application
Applications for granting an authorisation as a credit servicer may be submitted from now on by e-mail to: [email protected].
Specific reference is made to the provisions in Article 35 para. 2 KKG, under which credit servicers that have already provided credit servicing activities prior to the entry into force of this Federal Act, are entitled to conduct this activity in Austria without an authorisation pursuant to Article 4 KKG for a maximum period of five months from the entry into force of the KKG, provided that they submit an application for authorisation within two weeks of the KKG entering into force and provided that a legally final decision has not been reached prior to the expiry of the five month period starting from the entry into force of the KKG. This means in such cases that applications for authorisations are required to be submitted to [email protected] by 01 April 2025.
General Enquiries
General enquiries in relation to the KKG may be addressed to the following address: [email protected].